Hmm - some of the plain green self-seeded plants that I use for fill-ins. 'Spilled Milk' was a dud for me - only markings were on a small off-shoot. Although the markings on 'Janet' are nice, I get some off-shoots that revert to solid green. 'Witch's Brew' was a weak plant that has dwindled away to almost nothing. I have a yellow one - can't remember which one it is - scorches every year as does 'Frances Williams'. Those would be my candidates.

I am ready to get rid of Geisha, (aka Ani Machi). It is kinda pretty when it first emerges but then it just keeps getting uglier as it gets older. I have four and I am over it, they gotta go. I hate them. :(

Definitely:
Big Daddy - doesn't grow
Blue Angel - never been impressed with it
Halcyon (just the first one) - doesn't grow
Fire Island - leaves too thin, has burned 3 years in a row and this year has lots of insect damage
Guacamole - grows great and the flowers smell nice, but I hate the way it looks all floppy
Little Patriot - eh, another small green and white
Mountain Snow - eh, another green and white with thin leaves
Night Before Christmas - hate the messy growth form, leaves sometimes split for me
Wide Brim - doesn't grow and looks blah
A few hundred of the U Albomarginata
The last 5 big U Erromena
And all the noids that I keep for no good reason

Maybe:
Aomori Select - so far it's just another green, might take it off the maybe list when I see the flowers again (was blooming purple when I got it last year)
Frances Williams - it gets spring dessication about half the time for me
Just So - hasn't done much for me yet, not sure about this one
Maraschino Cherry - just looks green and the red doesn't show up well in the petioles for me, might change my mind after it blooms this year
Minuteman - so far, I like Patriot better
Pilgrim - nice color and habit, but the thin leaves show more damage than most of my hostas
Sum and Substance - just the smallish one =) no need for duplicates
Twist of Lime - not impressed with the green on green look, am trying one division in the sun to see if it looks better

So maybe we should have a huge hosta swap late in the fall or early next spring =) Choose newbie volunteers to get the ones we don't want anymore, LOL. Who knows, they might have MUCH better luck then we have.

Edited to add that I haven't gotten rid of any of these hostas, and I don't plan to anytime soon. I'm not out of space yet, but these would be the first ones to go if I were.

Eleven, I am soooooo with you on big Daddy! I just bought Abiqua Drinking Gourd to try as a replacement. Big Daddy is one of the oldest in my garden and it just does. not. GROW. Everything else does, so I am blaming Big Daddy. It's pretty bad when you have it next to Little Sunspot and LS is catching up fast!!!

I gave away a few this year, but mostly because I have things that are sort of similar and like better. One was Elvis Lives- not great color and I have too many wavy ones as it is, I think. And Rootin' Tootin- I like Chain Lightning better and have better luck against the slugs with that. If it came down to giving up Stained Glass and keeping Cathedral Windows, I'd be ok with that. Nothing wrong with SG, but eventually I will have to make some choices based on space.

Oh, Paul's Glory. Gonna go live at my FIL's next year. That one just doesn't catch my eye and it's in a spot that the slugs frequent and is difficult for me to get to with my ammonia rounds.

So Ann, I'm in pretty much the same situation as you. I have been starting the culling process and will just see how things go. I've got a couple duplicates that will probably be on the chopping block at some point too.

Before I put my answers out there (and it might be a couple of days as I've got to make a fast trip to Calgary for a memorial service for DH's aunt (94) who died 2 weeks ago) have any of you already tried moving around some of the ones you don't like?

I was a bit surprised to see 'Fire Island' on a list as I LOVE mine. But maybe I've been lucky in where I put it - lots of morning sun and it stays yellow most of the summer.

Actually, yes, Ann. Is the pic in your first post Diana Remembered? My inlaws and their friends were here last weekend and I told my FIL Diana Remembered was up for grabs. Nothing wrong with it- it's just too slug prone. Then I happened to move it over near Stained Glass and decided it looked good there, with a good shot of morning sun. So now I am going to live with it the rest of the season ( it will get a copper collar for slugs), and then I may cut it in half and give half to my FIL and keep the other half.

Ann, I moved Fire island to a different bed last month, but it had already burned beyond belief in the spring sun. I hope it does better here. I wouldn't actually get rid of it for a couple years anyway. Here it is now three weeks after the move:

I don't have many slug problems here so that hasn't been a real issue for me. 'Geisha' and 'Fire Island' are keepers for me. The latter doesn't get any direct sun but still keeps the yellow color. 'Diana Remembered' is one of my faves and 'Guacamole' does okay. I like the color of 'Parhelion' but it's slightly floppy for its leaf size.

I LIKE 'Ani Machi' (aka, but incorrectly, Geisha), but find it hard to photograph as it's always moving in the breeze.

But I think 'Outhouse Delight' is a goner. There are others too, but will have to wait. I should NOT be on the computer.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2013 11:10 AM

A new edit to say the 'Ani Machi' tested positive for HVX in 2013 and was destroyed. It had probably been infected all the time I had it and the symptoms were extremely subtle - so much so that the leaf stayed in my kitchen for a couple of days before I ran the test and I was surprised to see the positive.

Oh dear, I never give up on ahything until it is dead (except for invasive junk I bought early in my gardening years). I have tons of green/white and white/green hostas that I just keep spreading around. Of course, if I forget about where they are, they sometimes die on their own. :-)

About Frances Williams: I tried three of these - in different sites - and they all just disappeared (not dead, vanished). Now, for some reason my last attempts appear to be quite happy. I cannot figure it out. I am happy, however to hear that others find it a pain; I always thought it was supposed to be such a star and there was something wrong with me for not being able to grow it!

Also wanted to mention that I always thought I was doing something wrong for hostas to disappear over a few years since they'd always been reputed to be such carefree plants. Glad to hear that it's not just me being negligent.

I actually bought two large size FW my first year gardening and lost them both the next Spring- no idea why! I think it's popular because it's an old classic, widely available and the color combo is so nice, when there aren't dessicated areas. The dessication for me is a deal breaker, though. Too many other newer similar ones to use that don't do that.

I'm working on it. Becoming more apparent as I'm posting hostas by letter of the alphabet. I went out of town last week and couldn't remember which list I'd posted it on.

As far as FW is concerned, I could live w/o it. But it's in a very dark corner where virtually nothing likes to grow. So unless you can give me an alternative, it stays. Here it was June 12. I forgot to take a picture the last time I was out in the garden with a camera (I try to get them all about once a week).

'Moonstruck' is a prissy little thing that melts out at the slightest sun and is a slug magnet. The year I divided it in the spring, it sulked all season long. I have it in two spots to see if it does better with different light, but I doubt it. My patience with really fussy hostas is wearing thin.

I for one am very glad about this compiled list of hosta duds. Will help me get over the commercial PR.
Is anyone impressed with 'Stained Glass'? Supposedly a tissue culture plant and it grows ok but the coloring just doesn't do that much for me. On a brighter note, one of my faves for several years is 'Sagae' because the very upright tall stems make such a statement to me. Also fond of 'Moonlight'.

Ann
My Cherish seems to go on the up and down cycle. Last year looked like it was a goner and this year is perking up. Not sure why.
Will get a Photo. I will have to move it as it's being pushed out by Lakeside downsized. My Island Charm looks good this year. Will get both of them on here soon
Alberta Ann

Hve just come in from the garden. Mulching. A job for the long weekend. Won't be here long as my bath is drawing.
I was going in alphabetical order the way my pics are, but I dug out one dud this evening - 'Sweet Innocence'. It's SUPPOSED to be an improved 'Fragrant Bouquet'. NOT! Mine has sat around doing nothing much for quite awhile now - I'll look up the year I got it later.

I dug it out, divided it - it pulled apart easily into 2 1-eye divisions and 1 2-eye division. I planted them in my holding bed in the back yard and I'm doing an HVX test on it, though I think it's perfectly healthy, because I want to plant my new 'Mandy Pandy' in the hole where it was. I bought 10 test strips through the Ontario Hosta Society but they have to be used in a year to be valid. At the moment I don't suspect anything in my garden of being infected, but it's nice to have the strips when you want them.

'Obsession' - I've never been obsessed with it. Divided it all up last autumn and took most of it to the local hort. society spring sale. It's an OK green, I guess, but I think there are better ones around. I still have these two small divisions in my nursery bed and have to admit THEY look pretty good.

'Outhouse Delight'. I read somewhere a description of it as "the ugliest hosta ever". SO, why do we grow it? It's a novelty since it emerges all white. Then it gets sunburnt and the leaves shred. Doesn't grow fast. I've had mine since Spring 2007. I have a seedling from it that might be a bit bigger, but it behaves exactly the same way.

Jury is still out on 'Peace'. I've only had it a few years and the leaves are pretty, but it's sustained a lot of damage and there aren't a lot of slugs out there this year. It IS reputed to be difficult to grow. I'll give it a couple more years.

'Red Hot Flash' has red petioles and is very fertile though the seedlings so far have been hum drum green. But what a messy mound it makes! Kind of pretty when it emerges as the leaves have yellow centres, but I think it may be on the long list of possible ones to eliminate.

My 'Snow Mouse' looks like its on the way to going solid blue. I'm disenchanted with the BME family. They aren't stable at all (oh, 'Cat and Mouse' is another dud, I'll show both of them to you), and there are too many look-alikes - probably because different people registered or marketed their simultaneous sports which are essentially the same.

#1 - 'Snow Mouse'

#2 - 'Cat and Mouse' - mostly all reverted to blue with one tiny eye just opening now which was chartreuse in the middle last year.

'Stealth' - to be fair, I didn't buy this. It was originally sent to me erroneously as 'Lakeside Mom'. However, they realized there might be a problem and told me to watch it.

When new, it had some streaking, but it rapidly stabilized into this hum drum, margined plant which, as far as I've been able to determine, has not been named. In addition, it regularly sustains lots of damage from slugs and earwigs.

Here's this year's pic of 'Sweet Innocence' which I mentioned above. It was new spring 2007 and is supposed to make a 2' clump. Mine, at 4 lousy eyes wasn't even close to that. It DOES have nice fragrant flowers.

I guess I should note that something has done major munching on many of my hostas this year. You can see it in this pic and in many others if you look closely. Sandy, up the valley, found variegated cut worms in her garden, but I've not found a thing nor have I been lucky enough to catch anything in the act.

CindyMzone5 wrote:sissy - 'FW' always made the "most popular" lists but I can't quite figure out why. It grows ok but the leaves don't stay looking nice through the whole summer.

I know! I really thought there was something wrong with me, my property, whatever. I should note that the 3 that seem to be doing well are all in a row in a very specific site. Maybe that is why they are 'ok;' still one would like to have better than hit-or-miss with a purportedly fabulous variety.

'Princess Anastasia' - I bought it for the name - my violin teacher in high school was named Anastasia and she had just died. But while its colour is attractive, the plant really did nothing and it didn't turn me on at all. It was a very flat mound. It's still around, I took it to the hosta garden at my church.

Noreaster wrote:I actually bought two large size FW my first year gardening and lost them both the next Spring- no idea why! I think it's popular because it's an old classic, widely available and the color combo is so nice, when there aren't dessicated areas. The dessication for me is a deal breaker, though. Too many other newer similar ones to use that don't do that.

We are still waiting on your list of losers, Ann!

So, here's a question - if it does not derail Ann's thread: what variety/ies would you choose to replace FW - going for the same [promised] size and colors? I really do love the looks of FWs that are doing well, but they rarely seem to be mine.

Sissystars, Olive Bailey Langdon is supposed to be an improved version of FW...I don't grow it, so can't attest to it's size. Tokudama Flavocircinalis is described as looking like a smaller version of FW (minus the uglies)...I grow that one, since the size works in mynsmaller garden, and absolutely love it.

A serious loser, in my book, is 'Miracle.' They never did anything colorful, as promoted, and they don't trhive at all. I think I had 6 to start three years ago, each with a bit of rosy color. I've got 3 left, and they are nothing but green all season.

:-) I cleaned the pool and then just floated. I feel far more sane, now.

I think I said, before, that Frances Williams has been mostly a loser for me. I gather that is not unusual.

Krossa Regal: These are nice plants, but they seem to be the favored food of *everything*: deer, slugs, rabbits. I don't know whether to give up on them, treat them as sacrificial lambs, or what. (Yes, yes, I use repellents and slug baits and now have DE surrounding them. The last looks, as my son said, 'dumb.')

Sissystars, I've been putting the DE around my hostas too. I found out that the DE used for pools is not the same as the horticultural grade, which cuts slugs, earwigs and cutworms. I hope you haven't been using the pool grade, which I did originally. The white DE does, like your son says, look pretty dumb. I just opened a bag of DE that my sister got for me from the States. I was surprised to find the stuff brown in colour. It blends so much better with the soil. She bought it at a farm co-op store. I hope it does the job.

I have three hostas that are struggling to survive because of tree root competition:

1. Sagae. I planted it in 2007 and it's still PUNY. Noone else seems to have problems with this one. I bought 'Super Sagae' and it appears to be growing better for me.
2. Dream Weaver. 'Dream Queen' on the otherhand is performing well for me. I'm going to dig it up and try it in a more favorable spot.
3. Fireworks is reduced to a teeny weeny eye. I've been watering it a lot and it seems to be coming back.

SO, I've concluded that when there is tree root competition, I need to fertilize and water more. I seem to remember franknjim (who used to post in this forum) mentioning that he would water even when it was raining.

irawon wrote:Sissystars, I've been putting the DE around my hostas too. I found out that the DE used for pools is not the same as the horticultural grade, which cuts slugs, earwigs and cutworms. I hope you haven't been using the pool grade, which I did originally. The white DE does, like your son says, look pretty dumb. I just opened a bag of DE that my sister got for me from the States. I was surprised to find the stuff brown in colour. It blends so much better with the soil. She bought it at a farm co-op store. I hope it does the job.

Luckily, I read that agricultural and pool DE were different before I spread the former around. However, I think the coloring is a different matter. I KNOW I read something online about a brownish agricultural DE like substance, but I cannot find it. Do you have a name/company for the brown stuff?

Sissystars, I checked the 20 pound bag that my sister gave me. Although she bought it in Michigan, it is a product of Canada. It is called Red Lake Earth with calcium bentonite. It's food grade and cost her about $15.00. It is made by Absorbent Products Ltd in Kamloops, British Columbia. Their website is www.absorbentproductsltd.com. I had to use google to find it on the internet, however. Their site allows you to find distributors in the States but not in Canada. Go figure!!! The white stuff in small quantities that I've found in garden centers is extremely expensive. I'm in the process of applying it around approximately 300 hostas. It's been time consuming because I've also applied a two-month weak slow- release fertilizer.

Thank you so much! I really would prefer the more soil-colored kind. And you are quite right that those smallish bags from garden centers add up. I used one entirely and did not even get around to the other side of the house.

I thought that the DE, itself, had some fertlizing properties as it degrades. (Again, I cannot relocate the site on which I read this. But, several posters made the same claim.)

I looked around at OBL, T. Flavocircinalis, and Jack of Diamonds. Based on pictures, sizes, etc. I thought I would go with OBL. BUT, the Monrovia site says it requires constant moisture - even wetness.

I'm going to start a new thread to see who grows the OBL and what they find its water needs to be.

Hi
Is there any one who wish to get rid of hostas???????? I think its impossible because Hostas are the most attractive foliage plant. I have 14 different species and every is as much close to my heart as my own kids. Last month we are moved to a new city and new home due to my transfer and the owner of the house lives upstairs in the same house. On this weekend I went to my native city to meet my parents and when back , my head moved and smashed my Hostas were divided by my house owner and he took them into his part ... I cried but he became wicked and said do what you can... Can you believe this?
Hostas lovers can understand my feelings... He damaged/hurt my babies... Now I decided to move remaining Hostas in my brother,s house who is living in my native city.
If Any body has good suggestions, can share here.
Thank you.

Kaleem, I'm so sorry that happened. I'd be crying too. How long will you be living at the new house? I hope your brother will take good care of your hostas and that you can enjoy them in a new home one day.

Just back from mini vacation.
Thanks for posting some of the potential 'FW' replacements. And I definitely agree that tree root competition can contribute to eventual demise of some hostas. Planted some in an extended bed in the front yard between two oaks and a maple because grass wouldn't grow decently. But lots of root competition for nutrients, water and just soil space has caused one large hosta to almost disappear. A lot of the others in that bed are gradually shrinking as well. I wonder if adding fertilizers and water just encourage more tree root growth instead of helping the hostas.

Cindy, I moved some hostas around recently and ended up lifting and/or moving a few that I just planted last year. I was surprised at the amount of tree roots (mostly crabapple in one bed) I pulled from the hosta roots. My Liberty in particular hasn't grown any. When I replanted it, I curved one of those pound-in plastic border pieces around its root home to discourage the tree roots from growing straight into it. I'm also planning on staking my shovel between it and the tree every couple months to sever new tree roots and give Liberty a better chance this time. I took some huge Erromena from directly next to this tree in the spring, so I know that hostas can grow here, I just need to help get them well-established.

My problem is I really do not have indoor space to overwinter anything. And, honestly, at this point, I think the deer, rabbits, and slugs would be more than happy to invade our deck! (The Canada geese are now flapping at my bedroom window every morning - why should the mamals hold back?) Do you think the grass puts critters off?

I don't bring in the pot over winter. I do put it inside of a tall cold frame of sorts. The pot is suffering (not supposed to be exposed to cold weather) but the plants come back every spring. Can't take credit for the combo since I had seen it on a gardening program a few years back.

I keep hosta in pots over the winter. the trick is to prevent the top surface from icing over. That can rot the roots. I regularly thin out my hosta for my garden club plant sale. I have donated many Allan P. O'Connell which I use as a border, some small H. undulata which I brought with me from NJ when I moved in here in MA 30 years ago from a clump my grandmother had planted {I will always keep some of this for that reason}, Golden Tiara, Gold Drop, Stiletto, Green Elf, and i am ready to separate a Sum and Substance and Blue Cadet. Sum and Substance I find to be a slower growing type. Worth it if you have the part sunny spot to show off the chartreusy color, but it takes a while to get magnificent and ready to divide. We have also collected some NOIDs from various sources which are due for separation also this spring. My son enlarged and dug up a bed and moved hosta this past summer and I am ready to put some back now that he has done with the stone work.
I could probably lose Korean Snow, which has interesting but very pale variegation. Maybe this just needs a spot where it can be seen better. Also, slugs left my hosta alone as they concentrated on a couple of orchids I had on the ground outside. I saved them and they are blooming inside right now, but some of their leaves got pretty laced up.
Here is a picture of one of my Sum and Substance from last June. My six foot son and assistant gardener is in the picture for reference.
Martha

Loving the stone work. Don't have a lot here in NW IN. And the 'S&S' looks perfect. I have a few big ones that I'm always tempted to let grow big but then I'll need a piece for another part of the garden and they get smaller. Love the tip about not letting the top of the pots ice over. I did dismantle my pot of 'Krossa Regal' and hak grass last fall. Needed new potting soil and I was ready to change the combo. Did pot up all the pieces and now need to find a home for them in the garden.

That stonework was one of the places my son did year before last. It is planted with giant NOIDs that he rescued from a neighbor. They were terribly overgrown in this teensy bed in front of their house. My son dug them up, weeded the bed, replenished the soil and replanted about 1/4 of them. The guy didn't want the rest so my son brought them home to me, where he knows that no homeless hosta is ever turned away. They are tall, possibly Royal Standard, but no one knows for sure now. Some of them went into last year's plant sale. The Sum and Substance is a division of about 6-7 years ago from my original plants. One of the things I adore about hosta is that they go from nothing above ground to giant beauty in only a few weeks.
We are looking at acquiring Empress Wu or Komodo Dragon. My son dug out a space on our rocky hillside but he didn't get it finished in time to plant anything this past year. More fun this spring, probably where the Empress Wu or the Komodo Dragon will go when we decide.
Martha

I've seen pics of 'Empress Wu' - that's one big hosta. While I really like the big ones, I don't think I'd have the space for it without tearing out several other plants.
I can't throw hostas away so am continually trying to give them away to various family members.

I pitched Knockout last summer. I think Christmas Pageant and Lakeside Kaleidoscope are going in the garbage this year. My plan this year is to move a large number of hostas. So, I'm sure there will be a few more ugly ones add to the list!

I ditched my third attempt at Patriot last spring at my GC plant sale. I have had three of them and none of them did diddly! I potted it up and sold it to someone who it may like better. It grew in a spot with lots of other healthy productive hostas, but never got going.
On the other hand, I bought a box of large green hosta at a yard sale years ago for 5 bucks. I call it "The Giant Hosta That Ate Saugus". The very next season these hosta took off growing quickly into huge clumps and have provided my plant sale and other civic projects around town with fine large green hosta, NOID, of course. I have dug and separated the original clumps a number of times in the past, with one clump yielding about twenty good sized divisions one year. I have a picture below. These are from Spring 2007 and are at the bottom and top of my driveway wall. In the second picture, you can see that the NOID is already leafed out and the S & S next to it still has a ways to go before it is fully out.
My minis have pots and their own hosta bed which they like but I keep an eagle eye out for slugs. One hungry slug can ravage your mini beds.
Martha

gardenmart - ya know, I've had mixed emotions about 'Patriot' myself. For all the PR, it just doesn't perform as well as other hostas in the same bed. It doesn't get bigger or fuller like others and I've had it since '96. Haven't divided it even once.

My Patriot was really nice the first couple years, but then stopped growing, got vandalized by the rabbit, pouted during the drought, and has generally looked like poo ever since. I moved it to a side bed last summer. If it stays underwhelming, I will happily rip it out to make room for something else.

It's a puzzling variety. I have seen Patriot in corporate landscaping plans that were growing huge. I wonder if it matters the original stock that the plants came from? Some other people have never had trouble with it. I have no clue. It's just out of my plan now so I can concentrate on some other varieties. I tried. I really tried.
Martha

I think it's classified as a "medium" sized hosta which is ok but it never gets fuller or really happy. Since it's been on the market for so long, I could understand some commercial propagation variation - I guess. I have some other smaller NOID variegated hostas I got from my dad years ago and they just got smaller and smaller... I don't know that I have more than 1 left out of about 15.

Not I, since I had so little luck with P. I just didn't go there. I think I want to try some of the red-stalked hosta. I don't do Frances Williams either because my friend has a beautiful huge one in her garden and I go and admire it from time to time every summer.
Martha

Did you see the comments on 'FW" early in this thread? Hopefully your friend's behaves a lot better. As for the red-stalked ones, I have 'Fire Island' (which I think is considered in that category) and it's quite striking with it's yellow leaves and red stems.

The earwigs devoured my 'Patriot' though it did bounce back. Even with the Ortho Bug Geta Plus the earwigs had their way with it. I'm hoping a move will help it. 'Minuteman' was in the same area, not a foot away, and had some minor damage but nothing to compare with 'Patriot'.

I just think that Patriot is an all around weak, undependable variety. If you bought it for the cute name, and you know we all do this, you can't help getting a dud variety now and then. So what it was Hosta of the Year in 1997?

I was wondering if it needs more consideration in placement. I'm used to hostas that aren't too picky as long as they're not in full sun and get some moisture during the growing season. Maybe better soil that what I gave it?

I looooooove hostas and I volunteer as a newbie to take any off your hands that you guys don't like!!! My garden is bare. All I have is Francee and patriot. Lol so I give up none! And I have a lot of room... So about all those homeless hostas... Hahaha

oh but there is always pictures! hahahaha i have seen some great "gypsy rose" pics. and i have to agree that your's... well... it leaves a little too much to be desired! hahahah :) don't give up hope. i stood out fron today looking back and forth at patriot and francee thinking..."welp...maybe they have different colored flowers??" i can't say as i can tell the difference. hahahah i guess it just takes some learning. maybe i will get more picky as my garden years progress, or as i run out of room! :)

'Gypsy Rose' is back but not yet unfurled. MIGHT have 1 more eye. But I think it looks much the same.

pic - 'Cherish' is back, but just barely. As I said above, it doesn't take up much space ...

'Island Charm' seems to have disappeared entirely.

I divided up 'Sweet Innocence' last year and it's off to plant sales. Ditto for 'Stealth' (or the stabilized version of it). Also the remaining eyes of 'Tokudama Aureomarginata' which are doing nothing for me. And I dug and divided 'Katsuragawa Beni' and it's off to sales as well.

I'm a very late bloomer when it comes to hostas. Our last home had lots shade but it was under greedy, water-guzzling silver maples - not the most hospitable environ for hostas or anything else, so I collected a few over the years, but not many.

The new house has much less shade, but I dug up my named hostas and heuchs and tucked them in anywhere I thought they'd get at least a little relief from the afternoon sun. A few no-names were already here are place-holders until something more interesting comes along.

And suddenly I seem to find lots of new hostas that are just begging to come home with me. Fortunately, we have a large oak with lots of empty space on its eastern, shady side, so I'm tucking my new hostas into those spots because the back beds are filling up rapidly

Terry - do you have 2014 pictures of the same spaces? You know, we old hostaholics are just delighted when we see someone new catching the affliction. :-) You've got a great start and an oak tree is perfect.

I'm weighing in a little late, but I think this is a great post, especially for those planning to expand their collection with newer varieties. It's great to try out new Hostas if you can afford to 'trial' plants for a few years.

I got rid of 2 Frances Williams because i think the foliage is just plain ugly by July.

Fire and Ice was a dud in my garden, but it doesn't take up a lot of space, so I imagine that doesn't help much. I also agree Wide Brim was a disappointment. Gold Standard is another that doesn't hold up in comparison to some newer gold Hostas.

I would love to get rid of the basic unnamed green and white hosta that came with the house and replace them with something more eye catching. There are also some hosta (maybe Gold Standard) in my front garden that are not doing well in the sun. I would love to find something more sun tollerant to replace them with.

Jennifer - if you or your neighbours have a garage sale, dig up much of that green and white hosta (probably Undulata Albomarginata) and have divisions for sale, cheap ($1- $4 depending on size). I did that once when we had a street sale. I had divisions of other hostas too, but that basic green and white was the hottest seller. Not only will you get rid of large parts of it but you will have a bit of money towards new varieties.

ViloaAnn, I did that two years ago. I had some takers. I need to paint up a new "Hosta for sale" sign for this year as the old one, looks... well, old. Maybe something flashier and bolder. I may add some of my other perennials too. Anything to feed my addiction.